Who Should be the Next Fed Chairman?

President Trump is on searching for the next Federal Reserve chairman to take over when Janet Yellen’s term expires in February. It has long been rumored that former Goldman Ssachs COO and current economic advisor to the president, Gary Cohn was at the top of Trump’s short list. Now it seems that Cohn’s star is fading. After Cohn criticized the president’s response to the recent violence in Charlottesville, it appears Trump has begun looking elsewhere. The Wall Street Journalreports that after the criticism Trump doesn’t even like to hear Cohn’s name.

The former investment banker had told associates that he was disgusted by Mr. Trump’s performance immediately after the president’s combative news conference on Aug. 15 about the Charlottesville events, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Cohn stood near Mr. Trump at the news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower, which White House officials had intended to focus on the president’s push for investment in infrastructure.

Asked if he considered resigning after the news conference, Mr. Cohn told the Financial Times that he was “reluctant to leave my post.” He also said the Trump administration “can and must do better” to condemn hate groups. “Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the KKK,” Mr. Cohn told the newspaper.

Mr. Trump wasn’t aware such a blunt critique was coming, said one person familiar with the president’s thinking. One White House official said the president visibly bristles at the mention of his economic adviser.

Trump has praised current chairwoman Janet Yellen, and is considering reappointing her, but there’s only one person I can endorse for the position of Federal Reserve chairman. That’s John Allison, former CEO of the well managed BB&T, and CEO of the Cato Institute, America’s leading generator of ideas on liberty.

Back in November I wrote that Allison would be Trump’s best cabinet appointment of all if the president gave him the nomination for Treasury Secretary. That didn’t happen and it was disappointing, but he would make an even greater impact at the Fed and Trump should put Allison, the author of The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure, at the head of his list for consideration.